Sleepy Eye to host sex offender meeting March 20

SLEEPY EYE – Police released public meeting information Tuesday about a 35-year-old, Risk Level 3 Sex Offender who moved to the 500 block of Remmele St. on Feb. 26.

The public notification meeting about Matthew J. Lyngen begins at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 20 in the St. Mary’s Church Social Room, 636 1st Avenue North, according to a Minnesota Release Notification Fact Sheet.

Lyngen has a history of sexual contact including penetration with three- to nine-year-old female victims that he knew, according to the fact sheet. He is not wanted by police at this time and has served a court-imposed sentence, according to the fact sheet.

The notification is not intended to increase community fear. Law enforcement believes an informed community is safer. Police cannot direct where offenders reside or where they go to school, according to the fact sheet.

Lyngen’s risk level has been determined largely on his potential to re-offend based on his previous criminal behavior. Convicted sexual and predatory offenders have always been released to live in communities. It was not until the passage of the Registration Act that law enforcement had the ability to track offender movement after their initial release, according to the fact sheet.

With the passage of the Community Notification Act, law enforcement may now share offender information with the public. Abuse of this information to threaten, harass or intimidate a registered offender is unacceptable and could be charged as a crime, according to the fact sheet.

Such abuses could potentially end the ability of law enforcement to provide these notifications, which allows offenders to win. Many of the offenders derive their power from the opportunity secrecy provides, according to the fact sheet.

For more information on personal safety, call Sleepy Eye Police at 507-794-3711. To report criminal activity by this offender or any other person, call 911.